Pretty decent. That's as technical as I can get without running trials on the strains and the prototype cheeses. Protection is stronger when using multiple species. So say pischia and debaromyces will work better than debaromyces alone.

edit: if/when you start adding bacteria to the mix, the dynamics change a bit. blue can start growing on top of the bacterial polysaccharides as a secondary kind of growth, but it will be spotty because by that time typically surface aW is too low for an even cover.

« Last Edit: January 27, 2014, 10:23:12 PM by linuxboy »

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Taking an extended leave (until 2015) from the forums to build out my farm and dairy. Please e-mail or PM if you need anything.

I would highly recommend doing the traditional wash method. Yeasts are there, by nature. They are in the air, so they will always be there. The traditional washing method, as detailed in my thread on the subject, creates a rind of naturally occurring local flora that will be a good thing to have. It prevents mold buildup, and creates a fairly hard film on the outside of the cheese that is totally edible and can be made attractive. The use of a thin wine wash, particularly a dry white wine, will not impart much flavor -at least not that is discernible over the natural flavor given by the bacteria. If you ever have a Swiss Emmentaler or Gruyere, this is how they are treated.

after a week or two of washing, I never have problem with blue mold.

I would also like to know where you are located. Perhaps if it is not too far, maybe I could come and help you with your washing methods? Winter is dead season for me. Especially this winter with loads of snow and the terrible Indiana wind. Oh how I wish I was back in the Alps...

I dont think our boss wants yeast. We had some unwanted yeast formation that made our rinds wrinkly.

You had geotricum, then. And a high surface aW. Have to prep the rinds in hard cheese and wash them in the morge properly and it will work. Geotricum dies with too much salt (more than about 3-4%), and is fairly easy to exclude.

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after a week or two of washing, I never have problem with blue mold.

You, me, and thousands of people over thousands of years. Yeast the cheese, it works.

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Natural RindWe recently acquired some Delvocid, a significantly capable mold-inhibitor, and have been making use of it with the provider's recommended amounts/measurements. After organizing and carrying out a mass 'cleansing' of affected blue batches, we adjusted their wash schedule to one row of batches, one time a week. (Mind you, we are a local business, with a continuous supply in our community. We are consistently making batches (not just a few wheels) to meet our demand, and we must remain committed providing quality through objective analysis.)

Still, I found some alien-like blue on two brand new batches that recently entered, which were quickly eradicated and applied with Delvocid. As cheese-making goes, I must solve based on a patient, problem-solution process, but our options are definitely not limited:

I am unaware of the humidity situation in the room, but we are getting into our warm-sticky season at the moment.

Some of the semi-permanent (heavy) wooden storage equipment may need better protection against blue itself.

The temperature might be ideal for the blues.

Maybe not enough moisture is being pressed out, and a low humidity causes them to extract faster during aging.

Anyway, some of our B. linens does get on the cheese in mid-late aging, and it makes a light blending with the natural cheese color that is just indescribably pleasing to look at. About the blue, I read/heard that it can form most ideally when a wet surface is on that borderline point between wet and dry, which indicates to me that moisture is being drawn out quickly and dries just before more exits. At first we suspected cheeses that were too close to each other on the racks, but it occurs on distantly-spaced wheels as well.

Washed-RindThis process has been more successful. B. linens growth has worked without any yeast formation, though occasional blue, especially on wheels that may not have been pressed just enough.

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